Sponsor the Training of Seminarians in the Czech RepublicFriday, December 20, 2013

Project Code: 430-02-79

The Czech Republic is among the most atheistic countries in Europe. Nowhere else do so few people belong to a religious faith. At the last census in 2011, as many as 34% of the 10 million people in the country described themselves as of no religious faith, while a further 44% gave no details. At 10.4%, Catholics, however, represent the largest religious group. The remaining 11.6% are divided between Protestants and a variety of other religious communities. By comparison, in 1950, in the area that is now the Czech Republic (then part of the old Czechoslovakia), 76% of the population were still Catholic.

When Pope Benedict XVI visited the country in September, 2009, one Church representative observed in an interview that the Catholic Church here was no longer a "vineyard" but rather a "stone pit."

Despite this, there are still young men who feel the call of God to go and work in this "stone pit." The archdiocesan seminary in Prague is one of just two seminaries in the country. Founded in 1635, it was transferred in 1953 to Litomerice because the communists did not want the seminarians to have any contact with the other students at the Prague universities. The seminary in Prague became the headquarters of a communist propaganda newspaper, and it was not until 1990, following the "Velvet Revolution," that the work of the seminary was able to resume in Prague.

At present there are 33 young men from five dioceses training at the seminary for their future ordination to the priesthood. The rector, Polish-born Monsignor Artur Matuszek, has asked us to help for the training of these future priests. We have promised him $8,700, so that these 33 seminarians can continue their training next year as well. Will you help sponsor the training of seminarians in the Czech Republic?